16 more held in Sirajganj

Police in separate drives yesterday arrested 16 more people in connection with the October 11 attack on the intercity train Drutajan Express and setting it ablaze near a BNP rally venue here.
The arrestees include former president of district Jubo Dal Rakibul Hassan Ratan, nayeb-e-ameer of Rayganj upazila Jamaat-e-Islami Ruhul Amin, local Jamaat leader Momotaj Uddin, BNP leader Rokonuzzaman Rokon and activists Iqbal Hossain, Sachchu, Ashraf and Torik.
Police picked them up conducting raids at different residential hotels in the capital and Sirajganj.
A total of 76 people have been arrested so far in eight cases filed for the Sirajganj violence.
The cases were filed with Sirajganj Government Railway and Jamuna Bridge Western Police Stations for setting fire to the train, attacking police and passengers and looting valuables.
At least six people were run over and killed by the train when it ploughed through the crowd spilling onto the rail tracks from the rally at Soidabad near the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge.
More than 100 passengers, travelling from Dinajpur to Dhaka, were injured when opposition supporters threw stones at the train and vandalised it.
Incensed by the deaths, they also set it on fire and beat up its driver and a guard of a nearby level crossing.